


Conflict of Interest

by smolsarcasticraspberry



Series: The Strength of a Connection [5]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Flut, PWP, Smut, That's it, blame socks it was her idea, look i don't know what to tell you, mind link au, shallura - Freeform, that's the fic, they're gonna boink in the elevator
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-25
Updated: 2017-05-25
Packaged: 2018-11-04 21:58:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10999815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smolsarcasticraspberry/pseuds/smolsarcasticraspberry
Summary: The elevator ride up to the bridge every morning takes forty-five seconds. Allura thinks that forty-five second elevator ride counts as "work time". Shiro thinks it doesn't. So far, they're at an impasse. The conflict devolves into a competition to see who can make the other flustered right before they have to go to work. But hey... it's not a conflict if you both win, right?





	Conflict of Interest

**Author's Note:**

> You can blame Socks (aka Braincoins) for this little idea. I said I'd write it for her ages ago, and finally - I deliver.

Their first argument is about the elevator. And it's less of an argument, and more of a territory dispute.

They both agree that the only way this is going to work is through a strict separation of roles. This means that during the times that Shiro thinks of as "work hours", they're both on their best behaviour. No flirting on the bridge. No making out on the training deck. No Takashi and Allura, until they hit downtime. Just "Shiro" and "Princess". So far, they completely agree.

The problem is the morning elevator ride from the living floors to the bridge. Since they're usually the first ones awake, it's not suspicious for them to eat breakfast together and get their morning meetings out of the way before they head up to the flight deck to meet everyone else.

The elevator ride takes forty-five seconds. Shiro knows this, because he timed it. Allura thinks that forty-five second elevator ride counts as "work time". Shiro thinks it doesn't. So far, they're at an impasse.

"This is work time," Allura insists. "We're on our way to the bridge."

"But we're not _on_ the bridge. And there's no one else here."

She tucks her hands behind her back and stares at the doors. "This is a good time to switch into work mode."

"That doesn't take forty-five seconds," Shiro says. He reaches out with his left hand and brushes his fingers across the back of Allura's neck. Pleasure jumps across her mind like bolts of white lightening leaping between storm clouds, and Shiro grins.

"It does when you keep trying to distract me," Allura says. She swats at his hand, but there's not a lot of conviction in it.

"So you admit that you find me distracting."

That earns him a stern glance. "I admit no such thing."

She's lying. Whenever she looks at him, her thoughts get soft and skittish and blur around the edges. It's been such a long time since anyone looked at him like that that he forgot what it felt like to be wanted. And it's a _good_ feeling.

He steps in front of her, and his hand on her neck drifts around to cup her face, and she looks up at him like she wants to be annoyed but she can't quite manage it.

"Shiro…"

He shakes his head. "You get Takashi in the elevator."

She opens her mouth as if to argue, but before she can say anything he leans down and kisses her. Her eyes flutter closed and she smiles against his lips, but the elevator glides to a halt and the doors slide open. He lets her go reluctantly. Forty-five seconds isn't long enough, and there are days when he wishes the elevator would malfunction and strand them between floors, but Allura smiles at him as she strides past on her way to the bridge and he'll take it.

Unfortunately, the Elevator Conflict remains unresolved. Allura _still_ thinks the elevator is a workplace, and Shiro is forced to resort to underhand tactics.

"It's too bad you think this counts as work," he says one morning, as they step into the lift together.

"Why's that?" Allura looks at him with one raised eyebrow, her thoughts touched with amusement. It looks like flowers blossoming in her mind; little petals of joy and humour unfurling in the sunlight. Shiro's still not sure what the deal is with the mind link, but the glimpses he gets into Allura's consciousness make all the weirdness worth it.

He shrugs in feigned nonchalance. "I was going to tell you some interesting ideas I had about that little office just off the flight deck. But they're not really work-appropriate."

"It's not an office." She turns her body to face his, and meets his gaze. The amused glimmer of her thoughts belies the sternness of her expression. "It's the Royal Audience Chamber. Only certain people are allowed in there."

Shiro smirks. Alright. Time to up the ante. "So you're saying we shouldn't sneak in there and have sex on the sofas?"

Allura meets his grin with a mischievous smile of her own. "There's very strict rules against that."

"Really?"

"Yes. There's actually a plaque on the wall that says 'no fucking in the audience chamber'."

She's doing it on purpose, because she knows he has a weakness for cuss words, and Shiro fights the blush that rises in his cheeks. He puts his hand on the wall behind her, and leans over her, so that their bodies are almost but not _quite_ touching.

"Interesting," he says, watching her face. "Do you know anyone who likes breaking rules?"

A thrill runs through her; he sees it in her mind, and in the way her eyes go wide. She bites her lip as she gazes up at him, and thoughts tumble out of her. She's thinking about it - about the two of them in that room, naked on the sofas, and how she wants to straddle his lap and ride him hard in a room where he shouldn't even step foot. He grins, and she pokes him in the chest.

"Behave," she murmurs, but she's smiling as she says it, and her eyes sparkle with pleasure.

He wants to tell her that he loves her. He's only said it once, and he's held back since then because she hasn't said it at all. She feels it, somewhere deep down, but for whatever reason she can't quite say it. And it seems unfair to say "I love you" when she's not ready to say it back, even though he feels it like an ache in his chest; like his heart might burst just looking at her.

He bites his tongue, and the elevator stops, and she smiles at him as she steps out, and it's enough. He'll take it.

A couple of days later, he tries again. They step into the elevator, and Allura waves her hand at the controls, and the doors close. This particular elevator is rarely used by the others; it runs from the corridor near Allura's living suite and comes out a little further from the bridge than the main lift. Shiro sometimes thinks of it as a private elevator, which is maybe why he gets a little reckless during the ride up every morning. They still haven't told anyone else about their relationship, and shamelessly flirting in the elevator is tempting fate, but these forty-five seconds of peace and privacy are a precious gift he's not about to waste on small talk.

Which is why he steps up behind her and loops his arm around her waist. He tucks his head into her shoulder and kisses her neck, and little galaxies of pleasure unfurl in her mind and twinkle like diamonds in the night.

"Shiro…" she says, in a 'be careful what you start' kind of voice.

He grins, and wraps his other arm around her waist to pull her flush against his body.

"I was thinking about your office," he murmurs in her ear. He can picture it clearly. The room next to her bedroom is lined floor to ceiling with bookshelves and cabinets, and there's a huge, solid wood desk set in a wall alcove. It's normally covered in papers and data tablets and empty tea mugs, because Allura is the messiest person Shiro's ever met. He pictures the room in his imagination and pushes the mental image towards Allura, through the bond between their minds, and her amusement comes back at him like little silver fireflies.

"What about my office?" she asks.

"I was thinking I might bend you over and fuck you at the desk," he says.

It takes her by surprise, which is the point. A surge of desire bursts through her, and her breath hitches. She likes the idea. He can tell from the way her mind suddenly lights up like fireworks. She likes the idea, and she likes the fact that he whispered it in her ear in the elevator that she claims is a workplace.

A thrill runs down Shiro's spine even as he chuckles in Allura's ear. Not for the first time, he wonders where he gets the courage to act this way. He's not normally like this - talking dirty, taking risks, making scandalous suggestions in the workplace. But with Allura… it's easy. She enjoys it. She enjoys _him_ , in a very physical way, and it's flattering and deeply gratifying that she sometimes finds him too tempting and distracting to resist. She brings out a whole other side of him, and he's pretty sure he brings out the same side in her. It helps that he can whisper the filthiest things in her ear and she'll just smirk and throw it right back in his face.

Like now.

She twists around in his arms and hooks her finger into the collar of his vest so she can pull his face towards hers. He can tell from the expression on her face that the next words out of her mouth are going to be something dirty.

"The real question is: when are you going to fuck me in your Lion?"

He blushes. He can't help it. Because… well… he's thought about it. Allura grins at him, delighted at her own power, and he laughs.

"I though Alteans were supposed to be diplomats," he says. "Didn't they teach you about de-escalating conflict?"

"It's not a conflict if we both win." Her voice is sweet as honey, and her smile is still playful. Shiro is struck by the sudden urge to push her up against the wall and kiss her into oblivion, but at that moment the lift stops and the doors open and it's time to go to work.

Allura catches the tail end of his thoughts, though. Her face remains calm and impassive, but she sends him a very vivid mental image of herself pulling off his pants in the elevator, and when he chokes on air she smirks.

Alright. So this is war then.

The next day, he tries a new tactic. When they step into the elevator, he clasps his hands behind his back and stares straight ahead. After a few seconds, Allura nudges him in the arm.

"What? No inappropriate suggestions?"

"I concede defeat," he says. "You were right. The elevator is a workplace. Unfortunately."

"Why unfortunately?" she demands.

He keeps staring straight ahead. "Well, if it wasn't a workplace, I'd fuck you up against the wall. But since it is…"

He glances over to see her reaction. She gives him a long, appraising stare. Then she reaches for the control panel and hits the emergency stop button.

His eyes go wide, but before he can form a coherent response Allura pushes him around by his shoulder and kisses him. It's fierce and possessive and the accompanying thoughts leave him in no doubt as to what she wants.

He pulls away and looks her in the eye. "Wait, really?"

She steps away from him, and her grin is triumphant.

"As I suspected, Takashi," she says. "You're all talk."

_I knew you wouldn't actually do it._

_You know what, Princess…_

He's going to do it. He'll do it. Because (a) he's highly competitive, and he can't _possibly_ let her win this little contest; and (b) she's looking at him with a sparkle in her eyes that's driving him a little crazy.

She catches his intention just as he reaches for her and pulls her into a kiss. A little gasp of surprise and delight escapes her, and then her lips part and her tongue pushes into his mouth and there's nothing but the taste of her, and the feel of her thoughts in his mind: delight and desire, mingled together. She wanted this all along.

He grips her hips and pushes her back against the wall and she wraps her arms around his neck and kisses him. Stars burst into life in her head. She wants him like this - quick and dirty in the elevator, up against the wall. He scrabbles at the collar of her flight suit. Finds the clasp, pulls. The suit unfastens down the side and she shrugs out of it and his hand finds bare skin and he gasps against her lips. Her fingers find the zipper of his vest and he tugs it off. No time for the rest of his clothes, but Allura wants the vest out of the way so she can tug up the hem of his shirt. Her hand dips under the fabric and runs up the bare skin of his side and a surge of heat and lust barrels through him. He's so hard he's aching, and grinds against her hip just so she knows what she's done to him, and she grins against his lips.

"Takashi…" she whispers. He pauses, one hand on her hip, the other on the bare skin of her waist. She looks up at him through dark lashes, her gaze heavy with desire, but before she can say anything the comm on the control panel crackles into life.

"Allura?" Coran's voice comes over the intercom. "Is everything alright? The lift stopped. Was there a malfunction?"

Nope. That's not happening. Allura opens her mouth to reply to Coran, but before she can get a word out Shiro reaches out with his Galra hand and punches through the control panel. The console shatters in a cloud of sparks, and Coran's voice on the commlink fizzles and dies. The power goes out in the lift, and the emergency lights come on, bathing everything in a rose-pink glow.

Allura looks a little stunned, but… well… she started it. Shiro grins at her, and when he presses his lips to hers once again she kisses him back with an intensity that knocks the breath out of him. Her hands go to his belt and she unclasps his pants so she can tug them down over his hips. She's in nothing but the simple bra and panties she wears under her flight suit, but he doesn't have time to take it off. Instead he runs his hand up her side and cups her breast through the bra and kisses down the side of her neck until sparks burst out of her mind.

"Takashi," she moans, and _God,_ his name sounds good when she says it like that.

"Mmmm?" he's too busy trailing hot kisses across her collarbone to pay too much attention.

"Someone will come to find us. They'll come to fix the elevator."

Shiro stops what he's doing and looks at her.

"How long will that take?" he asks.

Allura shrugs. "Ten minutes, maybe."

"Challenge accepted?" he asks with a grin.

"You bet."

They're on the clock, then, but that part was never in doubt. Shiro reaches down and tugs Allura's panties to the side. He runs a finger through her folds, up and down. She's already slick with arousal, and his fingers tease at her clit for a moment, making her gasp. Another wave of desire courses down Shiro's spine, echoed by Allura's own need. She's aching for him, and they don't have much time as it is. He wraps his hands around her thighs and lifts her up against the wall and the head of his cock finds her opening and he slides inside her.

He moans into her shoulder as he sinks into her up to the hilt. She feels _good_ wrapped around him, tight and wet, and for a moment he can't do anything but just feel it. Then he pulls out and thrusts in again. Allura gasps as he fills her up, and a burst of delight leaps from her mind to his. Sparks scatter across her thoughts and race away like liquid silver. This… this is exactly what she wanted when she stopped the elevator.

Her legs wrap around his waist and he moves in her, steady and insistent, revelling in the feel of her. He knows he should hurry, but he wants to take his time; savour the sensation of being inside her, her walls snug around the length of him. Her own enjoyment echoes back at him even as she gasps into his neck. She runs her hand through his hair and kisses him, her tongue warm and sweet in his mouth, her thoughts like spilled sugar.

She's amazing. She's breathtaking.

He tucks his head into her shoulder and whispers in her ear: "So have you ever been fucked in the elevator, Princess?"

A surge of pleasure runs through her, and Shiro glances up at her face so he can see the fire in her eyes.

"No," she says, breathless with arousal and mirth. "Have you?"

A throaty chuckle escapes him, and he shakes his head. "No."

She grins at him, her face bathed in the pink glow of the emergency lights, and he grins back. Raw happiness pours out of her mind, and she pulls him into a kiss. Her lips part for him, and she rocks her hips against his, silently urging him into a faster rhythm. He's happy to oblige. He thrusts harder, and she gasps as he goes deep inside her. He thrusts again, his pace quick and urgent, and she moans his name again as release starts to build in her core. Their thoughts start to overlap at the edges; the boundaries of their minds made blurry by desire.

He's rough and wild with her, one hand on her hip and the other in her hair, and high on the list of things he'll never get over is the way she clings to him as he fucks her hard and deep against the wall. She melts into him, her body soft and supple against his, her thoughts a haze of pleasure and arousal, each thrust sending her further towards her undoing. The crown slips, and she surrenders control and lets him take charge for once.

He'll pay for this later, of course. She'll pull rank on him and boss him around something fierce and he'll end up kneeling in front of her at the edge of the bed, his face between her thighs and his fingers in her cunt, doing what Allura affectionately refers to as "the tongue thing". Not that he minds. Because he loves her like this: unravelled, undone, gasping and moaning his name. She's happy and carefree and wild and he loves it.

He kisses down her neck again, and as he does so he conjures a sensation in his mind: his hands between her thighs, fingers rubbing her clit. He remembers how it feels for her; the echo of a sensation in a body part he doesn't possess. He wraps it all up and opens up his mind so he can push the sensation towards her.

Something about their mind link makes it feel real for her. He's never figured out how this works, but when they're close like this he can give her back the memory of certain sensations: his mouth on her breast, his tongue teasing at her nipple, his fingers deep in her cunt. He pushes it towards her and somehow… it becomes real. Allura gasps in response, and her back arches as she throws her head back, and Shiro smirks as he kisses down her neck. However this works, it's too good a trick not to use at a time like this.

He pulls together more feelings and sends them across to her, and she gasps again.

"Takashi…" she moans.

_I need you harder please I need you_

He runs a hand up her thigh and wraps his arm around the back of her hips so he can get closer, get a better angle. His reward is a cry of pleasure from Allura. For a moment, he jumps bodies completely. He feels everything from her point of view: her back against the wall, the feel of him inside her, the heady throb of arousal as her climax builds within her. Then he's back in his own head and feeling it all again: her cunt, slick and wet as his cock slides inside her; her bare skin pressed against his; his own building orgasm.

He picks up his pace and thrusts harder, and Allura clings to him, her thoughts scattered, her eyes half-closed. In the pinkish light of the elevator she seems to glow from within, and every inch of her body feels like soft starlight. He moves in her, deep and desperate, and she gasps for breath as he drives her closer to her release. He concentrates again, and sends another cluster of sensations towards her.

This time, it's enough to undo her completely.

She cries out as she comes, and the sensations of her climax echo back at Shiro through their linked minds. Heady pleasure rolls out of her, and she gasps in ecstasy even as she clenches around him. She unravels just for him, his name a broken moan on her lips, and it's too much for him. A few more thrusts are all it takes, and then he comes inside her with a gasp. Release takes hold of him, empties him out and leaves him breathless. For one long moment he forgets where they are. It's just him and Allura, bodies bound together, minds melding at the edges, feelings overlapping. Nothing but the two of them, in a glittering starscape of pleasure and desire.

He lifts his head from her shoulder, still breathless, and finds her looking at him with something like awe. He probably looks the same, to be fair. When he has enough breath back, he kisses her softly on the lips and lets his tongue brush hers just a little. She runs a hand through his hair and hums in pleasure.

Finally, she unhooks her legs from around his waist and helps her to the ground. She's a little unsteady on her feet, and maybe that's why she still clings to his shoulders. Whatever the reason, he's not complaining. He kisses her again, just because he can.

_Is that what you had in mind?_

_Oh yeah. That'll do._

Shiro is distantly aware that there's a time limit on this, and that at any moment someone might come bursting through the elevator doors or find a way to switch the security cameras back on. But Allura has her hands on his chest and his arms are still around her waist, holding her close to his body, and she doesn't seem to be in any hurry to let go of him. Instead she gazes up at him, her expression curiously soft.

"What?" he asks.

"I love you," she says.

His mouth drops open. And he can't… it's not… _She said it_. She actually said it. Half-naked in an elevator, in the pink glow of the emergency lighting, the evidence of their indiscretions all around them… she said it. Out loud.

She smiles at the expression on his face, and bites her lip. But she means it. It's there in her thoughts: how happy she is when she's around him, how much she enjoys their flirting and games, how content she feels to fall asleep beside him every night. She loves him.

He smiles, and presses his forehead against hers, and finally says the words he's been wanting to say from the beginning.

"I love you, too."

She laughs out of pure happiness, and kisses him even though he's too surprised and delighted to really kiss her back properly, and she's perfect. She's absolutely perfect.

And then the commlink in her earrings crackles into life.

"Allura! Are you guys okay?"

It's Pidge. Allura's eyes go wide, and the sudden realisation of their position crashes into her mind.

"Oh - uh - yes. We're fine, Pidge. Just a small malfunction."

"I should have the security cameras back online in a minute," Pidge says. "Then we can see what's going on and we'll be able to help you."

Shiro catches Allura's horrified expression, and tries not to laugh. This isn't funny. Except… it is, in a way.

"Alright. Let us know when you have the cameras back on."

The commlink goes silent, and suddenly they're both in a desperate scramble for clothes. Shiro's vest is in the corner somewhere. Allura's hair is coming out of its bun. And the whole process is made harder by the fact that Shiro just wants to kiss her, and she wants to kiss him back, and they're both trying not to laugh at the absurdity of it all.

_I can't believe we had sex in the elevator_

_I can't believe you said you love me_

She stops her attentions to her hair and takes his face in both hands so she can kiss him, one final, risky time.

_Believe it. I love you._

She breaks away and crouches down by the ruined control panel.

"You know… I think you really did a number on this."

Shiro shrugs. "My attentions were needed elsewhere."

Allura dissolves into a fit of giggles just as the elevator lights flicker on and the lift powers up. It still doesn't move, though, and Pidge's voice comes over Allura's earrings again.

"Okay, guys, I can see you but… whoa. What happened to the control panel?"

Allura glances up and catches Shiro's eye.

_Don't tell her I punched it DO NOT TELL HER I PUNCHED IT--_

"Shiro punched it."

"Shiro, what have I told you about punching tech?" Pidge scolds over the commlink.

_Alright you know what… the Elevator War is back on_

_I wouldn't mind going another round_

If they weren't being watched, he'd kiss the smirk right off her face. Maybe later. For now all he can hope is that no one asks too many questions, or notices the flush in his cheeks. When he catches Allura's eye she blushes. Did he win the elevator conflict? Or did she?

_It's not a conflict if we both win, remember?_

And he can't argue with that.

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah you know Allura's gonna make him pay for it later ;)


End file.
